As a parent, you negotiate with the school for services. To be a successful negotiator, you must understand the system and how it works.
You need a good game plan!
Many parents don’t realize that school systems are bureaucracies. Parents often don’t know how important decisions are made – or by whom.
Find all the steps for gathering information and honing your advocacy skills.
- Gather & organize information; hone advocacy skills
- Learn about your rights & responsibilities
- Get a comprehensive evaluation from a private sector expert
- Read one book a month
- Use self-help tools: Wrightslaw Way Blog & Community Helpline
- Do your homework
- Research online information and resources
This is a great asset for parents! It provides information & a framework for strengthening their advocacy skills. It is also important that parents understand that schools/districts are bureaucracies. This includes a lot of miscommunication, failure to communicate with in the school, slowness in making decisions, etc. The article on who is too blame for a child’s school difficulties is great. Thanks for putting this blog together. I do wish that the checklist did list parent training & information centers.
As usual, a good suggestion Chuck. We will update the checklist with a link to the listing of Parent Training and Information Centers. Thanks.
http://www.yellowpagesforkids.com/help/ptis.htm